Power

City officials want residents and businesses to know of a scam targeting Xcel Energy customers. The scammers impersonate Xcel Energy employees and tell victims that they are late on a payment and that they need to make one immediately. And if the victims refuse to do so, the scammers say they’ll shut off their power.

Every year, the average American family spends more than $100 on energy costs to power appliances that have been turned off. These “vampire appliances” – like televisions, cable boxes, DVD players, etc. – continue to use power once we turn off the power switch. According to the Department of Energy, this vampire power accounts for 4 to 5 percent of the energy use in a home. As is the case with almost all appliances, when we turn something “off,” it’s still usually “on” in standby mode.

Minnesota is looking to grow its share of electricity fueled by the sun and is counting on community solar gardens to help make it happen. A new state law demands that utilities get 1.5 percent of their power from solar sources by 2020. Under that law, Xcel Energy Co. has until Monday to tell how the giant electricity provider would like to manage the rollout.

Buzzing cicadas signal yet another hot August day. But it’s the scorched lawn and grinding of an air conditioner that are Brett Severson’s clue. “My A/C is running all the time — I’d guess my bill is about $400 a month,” Severson said.

Minnesota regulators have told Great River Energy to rethink its dependence on burning coal to generate electricity. The unusual decision by the Public Utilities Commission has no immediate impact on the power supplier.

Is the power back on? It’s a question a whole lot of Twin Cities residents were asking last week. And it’s one that a whole lot of Twins fans were asking about in terms of Justin Morneau on Sunday night.

It has been four days since a pair of powerful thunderstorms moved through the Twin Cities, and thousands of residents still don’t have power. At its peak, Friday’s storms knocked out power to 610,000 homes and businesses.

Two versions of a bill mandating solar energy for big utilities are heading for a conference committee where compromise legislation should emerge in the final week of Minnesota’s legislative session. The Senate version requires large utility companies to generate 1 percent of power from the sun by 2025.

Booted from statehouse power, Minnesota Republicans must figure out whether their new role at the Capitol will be as the noisy opposition trying to impede the all-Democratic government, an accommodating minority content to scratch out small victories or something in between.

Officials from city, state and federal government were tallying up the damage after the storm in north Minneapolis. They’re deciding how much federal assistance is needed, along with the city and state recovery efforts. One problem still being dealt with is the lack of electricity.